Memories imprinted in stone
by Zachura
Summary: Everything gets turned upside down when the man you admire and look up to dies, and nothing will ever be the same untill another trustworthy person comes around, but will the damage done ever be undone? KakaXSakuXsecret NaruXsecret
1. The one we all miss

_Hey hey, so I started on another new story, I'm waaay to impatient, sigh _

_This happens when team seven have turned 25, I'm not telling more than that, you'll have to read to find out._

_Disclaimer: They're all mine, MUAHAHAHA scowls at flamers tihi, (if you didn't get that it was a joke you're stupid) (too bad for you) _

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**Ch 1: Heroes from our past.**

_You're sick of feeling numb  
_

_You're not the only one  
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_I'll take you by the hand  
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_And I'll show you a world that you can understand  
_

_This life is filled with hurt  
_

_When happiness doesn't work  
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_Trust me and take my hand  
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_When the lights go out you will understand_

**Three days grace – pain **

Kakashi stood by the memorial stone; rain soaked his jounin vest as he dug his hands into his pockets.

"I think, you would have liked seeing Konoha for what it's like today." He mumbled lazily and bowed his head. His silvery wild hair, hung down and he looked much like a drowned cat.

"After he became Hokage much has improved. Not that Tsunade-sama was ever a bad leader. Ah…you know what I mean." He said and tilted his head to one side sighing heavily. Looking up, rain splattered on his mask covered face and he closed his one revealed eye.

OO

OO

OO

Iruka sat at Ichirakus and ate that ever delicious ramen, remembering those times when he used to sit here together with his former yellow haired student, the one who almost every time made Iruka pay for the meal.

"Iruka, sitting here alone again?" The familiar voice of Jiraya broke into his mind and dug itself into his memories.

Jiraya was also the yellow haired shinobis' former teacher, and he had been a good one at that, even though he had been the one giving the boy all those perverted visions.

"Yeah, thinking." Iruka answered short, Jiraya nodded and sat down beside him.

"About him?" He asked.

"Who else would I be thinking about, sitting alone at Ichirakus?" Iruka asked, and knew that the older shinobi would know the obvious answer to that.

"Yeah, you've got a point there." Jiraya said and ordered his former students' favourite flavoured ramen.

"You too?" Iruka asked, and Jiraya looked at him questionably.

"His favourite flavour?" Iruka explained and pointed down at his bowl of ramen, he hadn't touched much of it.

"Yeah, I don't really like ramen really. The only reason I eat it is because that's the only way I can imagine Naruto sitting beside me." Jiraya said and sighed, staring down at the bowl placed beside him, he didn't even bother to take up his eating sticks.

They sighed in unison and imagined the yellow haired demon container sitting in between them.

OO

OO

OO

Kakashi turned his gaze from the memorial stone as he heard footsteps come closer, his dark eye met green orbs that sparkled with tears, visible even though the rain hid them well.

She placed herself beside him bowing her head, as a greeting towards the stone with all the names written on it.

He heard her heartbreaking sobs and couldn't help but pity her. She still blamed herself for his death, he had died protecting her, and she wished him alive and herself dead.

She reached out her hand and touched the cold and wet surface with long slim fingers, stroking over the name written there. Her lip trembled and she bit down on it, to hide the motion, but Kakashi had noticed, it would be hard for her to hide something that obvious from him.

Sakura always wanted to prove herself strong, equal to her team members from team 7. They had been exceptional, one Uchiha, and one fox demon, it was always hard for her to compete against something like that.

The Uchiha had treated her like a burden when she had been so much in love with him, and Naruto, well he was oblivious towards her feelings, as he saw her as a super human after she had been trained by Tsunade.

"Kakashi-sensei, could you please, comfort me?" Her faint whisper got slammed to the ground by the heavy drops of water, but Kakashi had caught the words and wondered what had gotten into her. Sakura never asked for comfort, not from the person she tried to look strong in front of, the person she had looked up to since she was twelve.

Kakashi placed his arms around her shoulders and she gripped his jounin vest and cried bitter tears into his shoulder, holding him like he would vanish any second, and that she had to favour her last moments with him.

"I feel so helpless Kakashi." She choked out. Kakashi froze under the impact of those simple, yet harsh words. And he realised that it was the exact way he felt. Slowly he cupped her chin and made her look up at him with red puffy eyes and pale skin.

"You feel just as helpless as you make yourself, Sakura, he would not have wanted to see you like this." Kakashi murmured and her eyes widened.

"Kakashi…I…" She stopped and looked away, with his curious stare upon her. Blushing she stepped away from his embrace and bowed formally.

"I feel better now, Kakashi-sensei, thank you." And with those cold, unsympathetic words she walked of, leaving the copy nin more than confused.

He turned towards the stone and sighed.

"What am I to do about her?"

OO

OO

OO

Shizune walked behind the former Hokage, who limped on only one leg. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail and the green kimono she used was switched with a longer, more formal dark blue kimono. In her hand she held a bouquet of flowers.

Shizune had never understood her superior and friend, but she always knew when she was upset. This was one of those days when Tsunade had awoken feeling guilty again, and limping off towards the Konoha memorial stone, where all the names of the warriors fallen protecting Konoha was written.

There she would place a bouquet of flowers, for her dead lover, and her newly dead friend. One of her most promising ninjas.

The fool had ran straight into the army of sound ninjas when they arrived outside Konoha. Tsunade had been so angry with him, but after a while, when no one heard anything from him, she got more and more nervous that something had happened to him. Some of the Konoha ANBU had seen him in an intense battle against Orochimaru, a loosing battle of course. The strange thing though, was that they had found the dead body of Orochimaru after the battle was won, but there had been no sign of _him_.

Tsunade lost her left leg during those five days battling in the depths of Konohas forest, but she used to say it was a small prize to pay to protect the village she lived for. And Shizune had heard the words hidden underneath that statement, she always, until now, regretted not dying with the hundred ninjas that died in that gruesome battle.

They arrived at the clearing in the forest, where in the middle there stood a large black stone with thousands of names written on it.

Tsunade fell to the ground, all her feelings overwhelming her, she couldn't help letting the tears stream down her cheeks.

"This should never have happened." She murmured and gripped the grass under her palms tightly.

Suddenly Shizune saw a movement in the shadows and got into a fighting stance, but Tsunade stayed motionless.

"Kakashi, you sure hang around here a lot, don't you?" Tsunade said and her eyes pierced the shadows, directing her gaze right at Kakashis hidden face. He smiled grimly and stepped forward.

"You're sharp as always, fifth Hokage. It has been a while." Kakashi said, bowing to the older woman. She smiled stiffly, but said nothing, because she knew that the copy cat knew she hated that he called her Hokage, when she wasn't.

Kakashi had never liked that she had ran from her duty towards the village after the rough impact with the sound, he had refused looking at her after it even.

"Cowardice should not walk so proud." Kakashi muttered and stared into her eyes with his one stone cold black eye.

Tsunade felt her anger rise inside of her and her fists tightened, if Kakashi took one blow from her, he would be done for, and they both knew that quite well.

"I know you hate me for what I did, but what good could I have done the village in my current situation, Copy-Cat?" She asked calmly and Kakashi tilted his head to one side.

"I don't hate you, what you did was weak and cowardly, just because you knew you could no longer fight, but at least you should have led the village until your dying day, like the other Hokages did. Still I can't make myself hate you for letting him die…" Kakashi threw a quick glance at the stone, and Tsunade knew who he meant.

"When I meet up with him again, I'll kick his ass for leaving us behind." Kakashi finished and sighed.

Shizune saw that he must have been standing by the stone since early that morning, because his clothes were soaked from the early morning rain.

"I'm not sure if…I mean…Kakashi you…" Tsunade started, but she could not finish the sentence, she tried to say something comforting, but the words would not leave her lips, and she gave up frustrated. Kakashi smiled under the mask she noted, so her effort had been noticed after all and she reattributed the smile gladly, knowing that someone understood.

OO

OO

OO

The sixth Hokage sat in his office, drowned in paperwork, staring out the window with a drowsing expression, his eyes scanned Konoha, memorizing everything. Every building, every loose nail, every sleeping cat and every leaf blowing trough the empty streets, everything became a wicked picture in his mind.

He remembered all the happy memories in his past, the bad ones he had suppressed and didn't want to unlock them at this moment.

He remembered the days with team 7, the days they had just goofed around doing nothing. Talking, laughing, planning how to reveal Kakashis masked face, sharing almost everything, and yes, of course he had enjoyed it. It had been the happiest days in his life.

Nothing he experienced back then would he have done differently if he had gotten the chance.

Suddenly he noticed the two jounins standing before him, he had forgotten about them the moment they had walked in his door.

"Are you sure?" He asked in a tone that could make a lying man break down into a shivering heap. The two jounins nodded in unison and the sixth was pleased.

"It couldn't have been anyone else?" He wondered and leant forward on his elbows. The two jounins had pupil less eyes and long black hair, one woman, one man. The woman stepped forward with a confident expression on her face and the Hokage smiled assuring towards her, urging her to continue.

"It could have been no other, Hokage-sama, the missing-nin, Uchiha Itachi was seen just outside town. He did not wear his Akatsuki clothing, only his old ANBU outfit." She said and bowed.

"Hinata-san, gather your old team, I want you to catch him together with the ANBU squad I back you up with. Be off." The sixth said and waved his hand, Hinata nodded and left.

"Neji-san, it's good to see you and Hinata have come to a truce. You two work well together, no?" The Hokage asked and looked at Neji with an eagle like expression, looking like he wanted to poke Nejis eyes out at any minute.

Neji nodded.

"She has improved." He said and bowed.

"Well, anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something completely different. It's about a, what should I call it… a monument?"

OO

OO

OO

Shikamaru sighed staring hard at the academy class; one of the punks had painted the stone face of Tsunade with red paint. He walked among them, glancing bored at them.

Grabbing the collar of a young punk with black spiky hair and sparkling light green eyes. He never could hide any of his pranks well, not from Shikamaru anyway.

"Young Mr. Kashimo, what must I do with you, to make you understand to leave that damn wall alone?" The boy lifted his hands in a clueless manner and smiled cheekily. Shikamarus frown deepened and the boys smile disappeared.

"I think we'll have to speak to Tsunade-sama about this, don't you think?" Shikamaru said and started dragging him with him towards Tsunades new clinic downtown, the youngling fought against his teachers' strong grip, but to no wail.

"Not the Hokage, please sensei, don't bring me to the Hokage." Shikamarus student cried, this made Shikamaru stop and turn around, piercing the young boy with a oblivious stare.

"You know she's not the Hokage no longer right?" He asked. The kid nodded.

"My family never thought of the Sixth as a real Hokage, so they still praise Tsunade the title of Hokage, even though they know it's disrespectful. If not Tsunade, it should've been…" The student cut off his sentence before he said something stupid that would upset his teacher.

He knew how much _that_ man had meant to his teacher, so they all avoided mentioning his name. Every man and woman knew of _that_ special mans deeds under the battle with sound, how he had killed Orochimaru, the demon, and how, he, alone could have won the battle if he hadn't died. Stronger than any former ninja Konoha had seen, a titan sent to them, a hero for the coming nations, and the only one of his kind.

"Sensei, I'm sorry." The boy said apologetically and looked away. Shikamaru smiled and ruffled the boys' hair.

"Any human can be a hero if you just let them." Shikamaru said and walked back to his class, the younger boy stared after him for a second, and then headed downtown to Tsunades clinic, to apologise, and afterwards he planned on washing away the paint personally.

Shikamaru stared after the kid and smiled proudly.

OO

OO

OO

Sakura sat in her bed, sulking. Pathetic, she thought and threw a pillow across the room.

"You're so idiotic Sakura!" She yelled and threw another pillow at the door, where Ino had suddenly appeared, just in time to receive the pillow straight in the face.

The pillow fell to the floor and Ino glared daggers at Sakura.

"Is that how you greet your friend, coming to see how you're doing?" Ino asked and placed her hands on her hips. Sakura only turned her head away from the voice coming from the door.

"It's been a year already, get over it." Ino yelled suddenly, making Sakura jump.

"You know just as well as I how it feels to loose one of your closest friends." Sakura growled and Inos eyes widened in shock.

"That has noting to do wit it, you should move on, you sulking on your bed is not going to bring him back, Sakura." Ino shouted and threw the pillow back at the pink head.

"Anyway, there's a GUY here waiting for you, outside." Ino said and smiled. This caught Sakuras attention and her eyes widened as what Ino had said sunk in.

"What have you done now?" She asked cranky and pushed herself off the bed. Ino lifted her hands in defence and only smiled cute.

Sakura made her way to the window and looked down, her eyes widened at the sight of the man standing there. How did he know that she was feeling down, and why didn't he come get her herself.

"You didn't force him to come here did you?" She asked and started dressing properly, in her chuunin outfit. Ino shook her head and grinned.

"Come on, hurry up, and don't let him wait now." She said, while pushing her friend out the door.

"Ah, Sakura-san, well, I was just wondering if you wanted to go out and eat somewhere?" He asked, cooking his head to one side, watching her fumble with the zipper on her vest.

"Yeah, sure, Kakashi….-san." She said hesitantly, not sure if she should address him in such a manner, but he didn't react to it, and he had addressed her that way, so she guessed it was okay.

He smiled down at her, and nodded.

"So what do you want to eat? My treat." He offered and she smiled happily.

"You decide, I can't choose, there's too many options." He laughed at her and then nodded, walking off down a random street.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Where fate brings us." He answered shortly, throwing a glance back at her and she blushed.

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_So how'd ya like it. Feel free to ask if there's something you don't like, something you like but don't understand, something that's missing…etc… I won't bite your head of, I swear on my life. _

_Well see ya….I hope, hahahha. _


	2. The similarities

_At first I wasn't sure if anyone wanted me to continue this story at all, but then i got a messae the other day, (I think you know who you are) That really inspired me to continue, and now another chapter is up. It's not painfully long, but I hope I'll have_

_ the inspiration to continue. _

_There are a lot of questions that will come up here, but everything will hopefully be answered in the next chapters So hang around. Peace. _

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_**How are you so strong?  
What's it like to feel so free?  
Your heart is really something  
Your love, a complete mystery to me**_

Kelly Clarkson - Irvine

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"flashback"

Naruto sped up, he had to follow the snake, the traitor, Orochimaru. The one who had robbed him of his best friend, the one who had almost killed Sakura.

Naruto wanted to kill, he had a huge urge to kill this man, and that's what he would do, no matter the cost. He wanted to rid the world of this man.

Suddenly the pale skinned one stopped and waited in a clearing, and Naruto slowed down, letting Kyuubis demons chakra die down to nothing and he felt his own chakra fill his system.

"Ah, young Uzumaki, think that you can take me on by yourself?" His voice was slithering and nasty, sounding like a threatened snake, ready to bite. Naruto steadied his mind, letting Kyuubi have a look into his inner thoughts, and he felt his own chakra blend with the fox's' chakra. It was painful, so very painful, but he knew it was the only way, and he was sure it would harm no other man but him and Orochimaru as he had followed Orochimaru far away from the main fights. He would end this, right here, right now.

Orochimaru summoned his greatest snake, and then waited for Naruto to follow up with his own Gamabunta, the toad, but Naruto would do no such thing. Naruto, had something far more powerful in his might.

"Your snake is probably the lord of snakes, but would he stand a chance against the lord of demons?" Naruto asked and grinned wildly. Orochimarus eyes widened in shock, he knew what it meant obviously, he knew he was done for, because the moment the words left Narutos mouth a large blast of fire hit the two of them, and out from it the nine tailed demon fox stepped. He rose his head proudly, and glared down at Orochimaru with red blazing eyes. His nine tails sweeped around him, like a giant crown. And on his paws, sharp claws scratched the earth.

**"You dare threaten the Kit?" **He asked in a metallic demon voice that echoed in the forests depths. Naruto grinned madly and knew that Orochimaru was now done for.

Kyuubi killed the snake Manda in one slash with one of his deadly tails. The large snake seemed only like a worm up against the demon lord, it crumpled together and hissed as he withered away, and when Kyuubi turned on Orochimaru, the man stared at Naruto.

"How did you tame this beast?" he asked. Naruto chuckled.

"Well chosen last words don't you think Kyuubi?" Naruto asked the fox, Kyuubi looked back at his vessel and grinned, showing off a row of razor sharp fangs.

**"Indeed Kit, how do you want him, roasted, toasted or carved?"** The Kyuubi asked seriously and Naruto thought for a moment about it.

"I'll give him an answer, and then you can do whatever you want to the man, but I don't think he'll taste all that good really." Naruto said to the fox before turning to Orochimaru.

"I never tamed Kyuubi, we just found a way to cooperate together instead of shouting at each other all the time. We won't get rid of one another before one of us dies, and so the other dies as well. Kyuubi helps me, and I won't kill myself. We have a mutual agreement." Naruto said, and saw that Orochimaru pondered over the simplicity of it all, and he could even see how he still pondered as Kyuubi roasted him with fire, before chewing him and lastly spitting him out again.

**"You were right kit, he didn't taste any good."** Kyuubi said. Naruto smiled, and felt the mixed chakra eat on his insides; it hurt like hell itself had frozen over and flamed up inside him. He could see the black dots at the corners of his vision, and he knew that this was probably the end for him as well, but it had been worth it. Even though mixing his own chakra with a demons chakra created a toxic chakra that slowly killed your nerve system and lastly gave you a heart attack, it had been worth it. And somehow he knew that one day, Kakashi would stand in front of the memorial stone, remembering not only Obito, Yondaime, no he would look at the stone, proud, and remember the sacrifice Naruto had made for the village.

"We've come at ways end it seems Furball." Naruto muttered drowsily. Kyuubi sighed, a low rumble that could be reminded of an earthquake.

**"I won't let you die so easily Kit, I'll keep you alive until my own chakra dies away."** And that was the last thing Naruto heard before he fell into a black pit, into nothingness. Everything was silent and muffled, is this death?

* * *

The Hokage stared out the window, like he had done a little too often lately, it seemed to become a habit whenever he had no paperwork or reports to attend to. Usually he let his mind drift back to the time it all started, at the academy. Today on the other hand, he was thinking of something far graver, they had captured Uchiha Itachi, and the Hokage had to interview him and clear him, or kill him. If this had occurred only a few years ago, he would definitely kill Itachi on the spot, but he was no longer the impudent fool he used to be. He was the Hokage, and he had to act in a matter that showed leadership. If Itachi regretted what he had done, and no longer was any threat to Konoha, he would be allowed to live under surveillance for a few years until he was completely cleared of all charges.

In one way, had he actually missed the older Uchiha, even though Itachi never truly acknowledged his presence?

Deep down he probably had, but nothing of that mattered now, he would have to meet Itachi with a neutral mind.

There was a knock on the door and Sakura looked inside.

"He's here, are you sure you can do this Hokage-sama?" She asked nervously, he sighed and nodded waving her inside. Following behind her was Hinata, Kiba and Shino with an ANBU squad consisting of seven men with Itachi in the middle. His hands were bound, his eyes were closed and around his neck he had a collar.

"Take of the blind." The Hokage said, meaning the jutsu binding Itachis eyes. Itachi tensed when he heard the Hokages voice, it sounded…familiar?

When the Blind was off, the elder Uchiha opened his eyes, they were glazed over like a dead mans eyes. The sharingan was inactive, but he seemed like he could see.

"Sasuke?" Itachi asked slowly, surely, knowingly, but he had to ask, to be sure.

"Yes, Uchiha Itachi, I am Uchiha Sasuke, the sixth Hokage of Konoha, I am to judge if you live or die." Sasuke said and rose from his chair.

Sakura looked at Sasuke with large eyes, not knowing if she believed in him when he said he could handle this.

"Why did you kill your clan?" Sasuke asked calmly supporting himself on his knuckles. Itachi smiled a humourless smile.

"Why I killed our clan? You already know, Sasuke." He said slowly. Sasuke remained calm.

"I think there's more, something you never told me, something no one ever told me." Sasuke said, already knowing the answer. He had seen the scrolls hidden under the floor in the Uchiha mansion. He had understood everything then, and he had already forgiven his brother, but he had not forgiven that Itachi never told him and instead ran off to join the Akatsuki.

"Something more you say? I wonder what that could be." Itachi murmured silently, somehow knowing that Sasuke would answer the question for him eventually.

"Uchihas plan to take over Konoha for an example, and then get rid off all the non-shinobi. Or maybe it was the part where Uchihas had to be mixed with Hyuuga blood that you didn't like?" Sasuke paused and looked at Hinata and then back at Itachi.

"No matter which one of the sick plans they were making, it was still wrong to kill them and then run away."

Itachi smiled coldly, knowing that his little brother was right. He had been a fool when killing the clan, but at the time, he had been pretty sick of Konoha as well.

"I know." He murmured lowly, and Sasuke caught the undertone in his voice, one of regret.

"Do you regret what you did, and do you admit that you are guilty? Do you take the consequences of your own actions, and will you abide to the rules given by me, Hokage? Do you promise that you will no longer kill those of your own village and will not betray Konoha again?" Sasuke asked solemnly. Itachi looked up with his cold grey black eyes and met his brothers dark ebony eyes.

"Yes." He said. Sasuke nodded and smiled, if it was a lie, he would have seen it right away, and Hinata would have noted on if his heart picked up speed, and Kiba would have smelled it. Shino had also placed a special bug on Itachi that gave off a terrible sound if someone lied, caused by the tension in the air.

"Very well, you will be a free man and can even go out on missions again if you abide to these rules. Wherever you go, and whatever you do, have to be approved by two ANBU that will follow you, no matter what, this will be for two whole years. After two years you will come back here and I will make you a free man." Sasuke said and waved them out of the office. Itachi stared at his little brother for a long time before turning and following the ANBU out of the Hokages office.

When he once again was left alone after giving a few instructions to the jounin team and Sakura, he spun in his chair and continued on his previous activity, staring out the window, while one question popped up in his mind.

"Would Naruto have done the same?" He murmured out loud, tasting the question and found it tasting bitter. Sasuke knew that Naruto would have been a greater Hokage than him by far, and somehow Sasuke wondered if Naruto was even dead at all, and that one day he would come in that door and claim the title Hokage.

"But that won't happen, will it, Naruto?" He asked the air, but got no answer, surprisingly enough.

OOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOOOOO

* * *

Sakura followed after Itachi trough white hallways which lead to the hospital, she was the one who would examine the elder Uchiha. It was especially his eyes she was worried about, he seemed almost blind at times. She watched his back carefully, how he placed his steps, how his arms hung limply by his sides, how his shoulders relaxed, how he held his head proudly like a king. He really didn't seem like his vision was bothering him in any particular way, except his steps seemed to linger for a hundredth of a second longer than absolutely necessary. Sakura didn't really think it mattered, but it seemed odd that a man craving perfection as much as Itachi did, why was not his way of walking perfected as well?

She wondered if he would even admit to her that he maybe was going blind, well, it wasn't hundred percent sure that he was going blind either though, it was more like a feeling Sakura had. And usually when she got these feelings, she trusted her feeling rather than common sense.

"Are you thinking about how to make me talk about my eyes?" His voice was like velvet in her ears, deep and sensual. She looked up to meet his grey black eyes. He was looking her straight in the eye, but still he seemed to look straight trough her.

"What if I am, Uchiha Itachi?" Sakura asked politely, hiding the anger she really felt towards this man. He was the man who had made Sasuke leave, and she would never forgive him for messing up his younger brothers' life like that.

She heard him chuckle silently.

"I am partially blind if that's what you're wondering about." He said silently, almost angry and Sakura stared even more intently at him, at his eyes. Yes, she could clearly see when she pumped chakra into her eyes so that she could see the finesses in the complex technology we call the eye that Itachi indeed was going blind. Without thinking about it at all, she had already started figuring out a way to fix his eyes without damaging the sharingan, when she realised what she was even doing she cut off her tirade of thoughts and agreed with herself that she would leave that decision up to the Hokage to decide. Maybe Itachi came back because he was going blind? She didn't want to draw such conclusions without any facts.

The rest of the walk to the hospital was in silence, Sakura had already found a way to fix his eyes without complications, as she had helped Sasuke with his eyes plenty of times. It seemed like constant use of the sharingan damaged the users' vision and that the mangekyo sharingan damaged the eye twice as much as the regular use of sharingan would.

Sakura was actually Konohas bloodline limit expert; she had a wide range of knowledge on each bloodline in and outside Konoha, all in all fifty different bloodlines as she knew of.

When Sasuke had returned to Konoha, he had asked her to help him with his eyes, shortly after Nejis father had humbly come to her with a problem with his eyes as well, and she had found an extended understanding for the way these bloodline limits worked. And so for several years now she had gathered information on bloodlines. It was interesting research and she had found many different bloodline limits that weren't even known yet, the persons possessing the ability didn't even know of it.

At the hospital the ANBU led way into an empty hospital room, only equipped with bandages and various tools for sewing and such. Itachi walked one step ahead of Sakura and turned to look at her, waiting for her to order him around like medics usually did to their patients. Except, Sakura was no regular medic, she was an expert, one of Konohas best, only beaten by her own teacher.

She looked at Itachi, he didn't seem to be in pain, not from what she saw from how he was standing, but she knew this was a proud man so he would never lower himself to cover in front of other shinobi. No matter how much she tried to concentrate on his stance she couldn't help glancing up at his matted eyes, he looked down at her, yet he didn't, it was strange.

"When you were in Akatsuki, did you have your sharingan activated constantly?" She asked and saw him stiffen, did he know what she was thinking, that she actually intended to heal his eyes?

"Mostly, yes." He murmured quietly, a voice that crept under Sakuras skin.

"Hm." Sakura said and walked around him again.

"Are you injured?" She asked. Itachi smiled and shook his head, he was lying, she could see it clearly even though it would look truthfully in the eyes of others.

"Please take of your sweater." He did as told and Sakura hadn't really expected that he would be in such a bad shape. She told him to sit on the bed in the middle of the room; he did as she ordered him to, mechanically.

"These are made from acid, I would say rank five." She murmured mostly to herself rather than any of the others that knew nothing of what her work involved. On his body three deep black gashes crossed his entire upper torso. They looked ugly and seemed to be made from an extremely dangerous acid. Acids that inflicted wounds on the human body was parted in six groups, group six was the most powerful and the one that created the worst wounds, usually deadly wounds.

"This will take some time." She murmured and started on his wounds.

OOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOOOO

* * *

"flashback"

Naruto looked up at the sky, a storm was coming. A brutal storm, he could almost feel the death of all the villagers, all the innocent kids that would have no chance against the rain of steel. Clouds of shinobi was closing in on the village, he could smell them coming closer by the minute. He had told Tsunade about them, she had not told the villagers yet, but she had readied the Konoha shinobi army. They were all patrolling the forests and the streets.

Naruto was nineteen years old, but he had already a child and a wife, well, the child was not yet born, but it was still a child. His wife was a beautiful woman, his equal and his opposite, his sheath. He protected her as she protected him and this time, he had forbidden her to fight. He understood that she felt violated because of it, but he knew that if the two of them died in this oncoming war, their child would also die.

His wife had refused to talk to him this morning, he had wanted to tell her how much he loved her, how much he cared for her, because he never told her enough. Now, it was maybe too late for that. What if he died in this war between shinobi, and never saw her again? Her beautiful face, her eyes, her hair, her smile.

"Naruto-nii-san, they have attacked the east side, you have to come right away." Konohamaru landed silently by Narutos side, his face covered by a cat faced mask, but Naruto knew that it was his younger friend.

"What about the Hokage, is she there?" Naruto asked calmly, making no sign of moving from the rooftop where he was looking at the clouds.

"She was the one who told me to get you." He answered. Naruto sighed tiredly, he wanted to tell her wife how sorry he was for what he was planning to do, and she would be devastated.

"Tell her that I'll be there shortly." Naruto whispered before disappearing in a poof of smoke. Konohamaru was left on the roof with a bad feeling. Naruto was planning something, something that was very dangerous.

"end of flashback"

OOOOOOOoooooOOOOooO

* * *

Kakashi stared at the stone, he felt the cold surface, and if he tried, he could smell the stone dust on the ground from all the times they had chiselled another name into the blank surface.

He had been on a "date" with Sakura the other night, it had been a wrong decision, he should never have made it a date. Now she probably hated her. Kakashi did not feel anything except friendship towards the younger girl, and he almost felt bad for having only those feelings and nothing more. He could have been perfect for her, protected her, soothed her when she was down; Kakashi was actually a great boyfriend if he wanted to. But his feelings never really reached out, he never allowed himself to like someone, to love someone. It had happened once, and never again. He had loved his own team-mate, and then she had died on a mission because he had been careless, he had been distracted by her for one second, and the next second she was dead. He would never let anyone suffer the same fate as Rin ever again.

His fingers stroked the place the pink haired woman had slapped him with her chakra filled palm. It had turned black under the mask and she had refused to heal him afterwards. She said that she understood though, but what she understood he couldn't really be sure of. Sakura was a complicated woman, and one wrong step could end up with death or only broken bones.

"Your death was equal to your father Naruto, his death turned peoples lives upside down, as did yours. He left a child behind, as did you. His death saved this village, and so did you, and I am proud of you." Kakashi murmured silently.

It was strange how Kakashi could stand by this stone for so many hours, talking to dead people, who could not hear him. And he seemed to be doing it more and more by each year.

"Minato-sensei. My apologies that I couldn't save your son, it was…unfortunate." He murmured and stroked the golden letters that read "Yondaime – Namikaze Minato." Underneath the yondaimes name another name was written. A woman's name with a spiral chiselled at the end. It was the only shinobi that was written on this stone, which was not a Konoha villager. It read: "Uzumaki Kushina." And underneath her name again, Uzumaki Naruto was engraved with golden letters.

"I hope you met up with your parents Naruto, you deserve it after everything you been trough." Kakashi said and turned to leave, only to find himself staring into a pair of familiar eyes, she held a little bundle of clothing in her arms, a small arm sneaked up from the bundle and grabbed her hair. He heard a baby's laughter; it was cute, but still depressing.

Kakashi bowed to her, trying to find any fitting words to greet her, but he was empty.

"Thank you." She said in a low voice. Kakashi looked dumbly at her, not understanding what she was thanking him for.

"My husband would have been grateful, no, I know that he is grateful for you to honour him like this. He told me that when he died, he would be written on this stone together with all the heroes." Crystal tears slid down her cheeks and the baby's laughter died down. Kakashi bowed again.

"Even though it's been a year, I know people haven't gotten used to him not being around anymore, but I hope the two of you live happily." Kakashi said and nodded towards the baby, before he walked away.

"Kakashi-san, he always wanted you to be proud of him you know."

Kakashi stopped, looked over his shoulder and smiled under the mask. Before he lifted his hand in one last greeting before walking away.

OOOOOOOOOoooooooOOOO

* * *

It was dark around him, so dark that he could not even make out any contrasts, he felt like he had only been out for an hour or so. He tried to move, but couldn't move a muscle. He could only remember parts of what had happened before he fell asleep, only short clips of his life. He tried once again to move, but his arms and legs wouldn't react. Something invaded his mind, another voice spoke to him, he couldn't make out the words at first, but soon they became clearer.

**"Can you hear me?" **

* * *

OOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOOO

Comments are appreaciated, and it's only polite you know :)


	3. The awakening

**Hello hello :) **

**this story has really grown onto me, and I've decided to change the main pairing somewhat, yeah, you'll understand as you read, probably. **

**Hope you like it, and enjoy. 3 **

**disclaimer: i do not own naruto or anyone else in this story. **

* * *

_Show me what it's like__  
To dream in black and white,  
So I can leave this world tonight._

_Holding on too tight.  
Breathe the breath of life,  
So I can leave this world behind_

_breaking benjamin - unknown soldier_

* * *

Ino sat alone at her local tea house, a cup of steaming green tea sat in front of her. She stared into the cup. She had been waiting for quite some time for Sakura to show up, but now she was actually starting to doubt that she would come at all. She sighed; the tea had not been touched. Ino had wanted to hear about the date with Kakashi, somehow the giant age difference didn't disgust her. It seemed only natural that Sakura found herself someone at that age. Sakura never really seemed to be a person who fitted together with a person the same age as her.

Ino was neither very lucky when it came to her own love life, when she was younger it had been easier. The boys had all been in love with her and swarmed around her all the time. Now, no one seemed to be interested in her anymore, especially not the shinobi guys, it seemed like everyone only went after the stronger kunoichis. Ino hadn't really improved all that much in the years that had passed, she had evolved her mind control technique somewhat, but it was the only real powerful technique she had. And she was nothing compared to Tenten, Hinata, Sakura or Temari from the sand village.

Also, after Choji had died in the war one year ago, she had suffered from insomnia and break downs, she usually tried to hide her depressed state of mind around other people, but once she was alone her smile faltered.

Her gaze lifted from her cup and she stared out the window at people that rushed by, busy with their own perfect lives.

"What're you looking so gloomy about?" A dark voice asked her and she snapped back to reality and looked up. And there stood one of the jounin shinobi. She had seen him run around a lot for the former Hokage. He had a white bandage across his face over his nose. She had never spoken to him before.

"Nothing." She murmured and plastered a fake smile on her lips. He looked at her for a few seconds before sliding into the seat opposite from her.

"A-ah, I know a sad face when I see one." He said and leant on his elbows to get a closer look at her, Inos smile faltered. So someone did notice after all?

"What's your name sad girl?" He asked and tilted his head to one side.

"Ino, and you?" She asked and looked curiously at him.

"I am Kotetsu." He answered and smiled charmingly at her. Ino felt warm and looked towards the door of the tea house, there stood Sakura; she smiled at Ino before turning and leaving.

"So, could I treat you dinner or something?" Kotetsu asked and smiled. Ino felt blood rush to her cheeks and she smiled back at him.

"Sure."

* * *

Sasuke left his office for the day, locked the door and walked slowly trough the hallways, he thought about visiting his brother at the hospital, but decided otherwise, and instead headed home to his mansion.

Inside his house it was dark and cold, the curtains were closed and he had never felt so alone before.

Why had the handsome Uchiha never found himself a girl, started a family? Maybe because he didn't feel like it? Or maybe it was because he felt that no girl deserved to be with such a man as himself, he would only hurt them, he didn't deserve to feel love.

He hooked the Hokage cloak up on the knob next to the door and made his way into the kitchen and started making himself some sushi.

After eating, or not eating at all as he had no real appetite, he made his way trough the village. He was heading for the memorial stone, whenever he felt alone he would do that. He used to stand there and talk to his best friend. He could stand there for hours and hours, just talking about nothing important at all, and sometimes, he just needed the company even though it was only a stone.

When he came there it was already dark and the sun had completely sunken behind the hills. He sighed and dragged slim fingers trough his black wild hair, it reached down to his shoulders, cut in different lengths. Sasuke was, and he knew it himself, a handsome man, he was on the brink of being stunningly beautiful, but he never really cared too much about that. He wanted to be as good as possible a Hokage, and not put Naruto to shame.

Slowly he sat down on one of the rocks in the clearing around the memorial stone. The rough surface was cold under his palms and he was wondering how he was going to start his one sided conversation this time.

"I've been busy, I'm sorry I haven't been here for over a month now. Being Hokage is hard work you know." He said and sighed, feeling suddenly very tired.

"Itachi is back again, I forgave him what he did, and he got a somewhat stricter punishment than I did, which would be fair as I didn't kill my whole family. Sakura didn't seem pleased about my decision though, I think she blames him for me taking my leave. It's really sad seeing her so lonely, not that she would take me anymore. She made that quite clear when I came back, you remember? Actually I wouldn't mind being with her if she asked me, but she has absolutely no interest in me what so ever." He paused and laughed at his own naivety.

"You think I'm silly don't you, Naruto? Here I sit, complaining about being lonely, and then there's you, who were alone most of your life. It must have been hard, I can't really say that I know how you felt all those years, but I can say that I partially understand. Naruto, I should've been the one who died one year ago. No one would've missed me, while you have a wife and a child that misses you, and so many friends that looked up to you. You would've been Hokage, you would've achieved your dream." His voice broke and he bowed his head to hide the tears forming at the corners of his eyes. Yes, when thinking back on his old self it was very unlike him, but time had changed him. He had realised that in order to become strong he could not bottle up all the feelings inside and look stone cold on the outside, which would only make him weaker. That was something he had learnt from watching Naruto who had been the most passionate shinobi he knew, and also the strongest.

"I'm sorry that everything turned out the way it did, I'm sorry I was too weak that night one year ago." He whispered and remembered the fateful minutes, it had been eleven months and twenty-five days now, he still remembered it like it had been yesterday.

"Flashback"

Orochimaru stood in front of Sasuke with one of his giant snakes beside him. Sasukes sharingan was activated, but his vision was blurry from the blood running down his forehead and into his eyes. He had taken a direct hit to the head and felt a little light headed.

Orochimaru grinned smugly, he knew he was stronger now; Sasuke was badly injured and could barely stand. He would finish this useless container now, once and for all before the Uchiha grew too strong for Orochimaru to kill.

"So, Sasuke, did you think it would end like this? Killed by your own teacher?" Orochimaru asked and licked his lips hungrily.

"Did you think you would get killed by the body you craved for?" Sasuke snapped back, but Orochimaru only smiled and stepped closer starting on a few seals, letting Sasuke see each seal take form.

When the seals were finished, Sasuke knew what came next, and he dodged the first pillar of white snakes, but he was growing weaker by the second. White snakes bit into his skin and didn't let go. He felt the venom flowing into his system and only a few minutes later he was completely paralyzed. He couldn't move a muscle, and his heart beat slower and weaker, until he couldn't hear it himself, he felt the blood flow slower in his veins, and could see the blood leaving the surface of his skin, making him look more dead than alive.

Slowly he fell to the ground, and coldly he stared ahead of him. He saw everything that happened in front of him, and could hear everything.

Naruto had come over to him the moment Orochimaru was bending over him to finish Sasuke for good, but Naruto kicked him in the face and drew the old sannin away from the paralyzed Uchiha, Except that Naruto seemed to think that Sasuke already was dead. The Kyuubis chakra was seeping out from him and Sasuke could tell that the yellow haired one was furious beyond belief. This was an anger, Sasuke knew, that would consume and kill, both Orochimaru and Naruto. He just hoped that Naruto knew that, and did something to control the outcome.

He could just hope, and do nothing. If there was something Sasuke hated, there was helplessness.

"End of flashback."

* * *

Shikamaru had guard duty, it was a calm night and not one soul had approached the gate for several hours, it was silent, too silent. He breathed steadily; he had to concentrate hard not to fall asleep. Somewhere nearby crickets played solemnly, and the sound of rustling leafs joined the nightly choir. He smiled, thinking of the bed at home, and the lovely creature sleeping in it. Her blonde hair was probably framing her face like an angel, and the blanket was most possibly only covering half of her body, and she had a delightful habit of sleeping naked. She was waiting for him, and when he would walk silently into the bedroom, she would open her beautiful aquatic eyes and gaze drowsily up at him. That alone, her loving gaze, would be enough to arouse him and they would have passionate…

A sound broke off his fantasy, and he realised that he had drowsed off. A woman was standing at the gate, staring off into the depths of the forest. She had long black hair tied into a low fox tail, and a thick fringe framed her pale face nicely. She wore a pure white kimono, held together by a pink ribbon. Shikamaru stared at her a long time before he realised who it was.

"Hinata-san?" He asked and walked up to her. She didn't react, her pupil-less eyes were fixated upon the forest, and she didn't seem to notice that he was even there.

"What are you doing out here, by this hour?" He asked a little louder, and she jumped by the force in his voice. She raised her head high and smiled lovely.

"I don't know." She said, truthfully. Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow at her.

"I heard a voice, calling me." She said and shook her head. Before Shikamaru even had time to react, she had called her good nights and walked away. Shikamaru was left with a feeling of utter confusion, and that was not often with the Nara genius. He sat down to ponder upon the nights event.

"My my, seems like Temari-san have to wait a little longer for that passionate love I promised her." He murmured under his breath and smiled by the thought of his lover in his bed, waiting.

* * *

Sakura met up early at the hospital the next day, she had started to try to get herself together. Ino had been right; Naruto wouldn't want her to cry over him forever.

Today she had awoken early so that she could shower, put on some decent make-up, and eat properly. The bags under her eyes were gone; she had slept throughout all the night, not having one bad dream.

Her good mood would be short though, as she once again had to work on the man she hated. He never really did anything to her directly, but if he hadn't done what he did, maybe she and Sasuke could've been together? Somehow she really doubted that now, she and Sasuke was not going to happen, they were too different.

She walked into the room where she had put him under surveillance, because even though he wanted to act cool, those acid wounds weren't something one should play with. He had also made them worse by not binding them with something, and instead just thrown a sweater over them. She had told him exactly what she meant, and he had taken her critique, and that irritated her more than Itachi himself did. The fact that he accepted her critique as it was nothing; it made her want to yell at him for being a smart-ass, but that wasn't true though, because he wasn't trying to be a smart ass obviously.

He sat on his bed with a cup of water between his pale hands, his grey eyes didn't move to look at her when she entered, and he just sat motionlessly without touching the water.

"Do you feel any pain, Uchiha-san?" She asked after looking over the rapport written by the medic ANBU who held him under surveillance. By the sound of her talking to him, he turned to face her. His eyes were red rimmed and he had scratching marks around them, on his cheeks and on his forehead. Sakura huffed.

"It's not like they will get well by scratching them." She said impatiently and looked at his lifeless eyes. He looked away again, not answering her first question.

"Well, you're not the easiest patient I've ever had, but at least you don't whine." Sakura murmured and walked over to the table, fetched a couple of new bandages and brought with her a chair as well. She placed the chair right in front of Itachi and stared at him.

"Do you see at all?" She asked. He stiffened, it was bothering him and he obviously had complexes because of his eyes.

"Not any more, no." He said lowly, that same voice that crept under her skin and sent ripples down her neck.

"This happened over night, right?" She asked and looked at the journal. "It's written here, that you, in your sleep started scratching your eyes. I'll have to check them, but I'll have to consult with the Hokage first, in the meantime you have to wear this." She said and gave something to him. It was a dark blue cloth with a metal piece on it. He let his fingers slide over the metal piece, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"You're a Konoha shinobi, if you're supposed to go on D or C rank missions you have to have a forehead protector." She said and pushed it into his hand. He took it grudgingly, and started to tie it around his head, but Sakura stopped him by placing her hand over his.

"Not there." And she moved his hands so that the forehead protector lay over his eyes.

"There." She murmured and let go of his hands.

"If you make anymore damage to your eyes, it's possible that I can't save them, and you'll be permanently blind." She said and Itachi stopped tying the knot. The idea of going blind was obviously something that didn't fall on good terms with him.

Sakura untied the bandage around his stomach and inspected the three acid wounds, she had healed them the previous day, and they seemed to be doing fine. She wrapped him in a new bandage.

"Why are you so kind to a man that you hate?" Itachi asked suddenly. Sakura stopped what she was doing and looked up at him.

"I am loyal to my village and the Hokage, and the Hokage has asked me to heal you, and that's what I'm doing." She said and continued staring at him, wondering if he had caught her undertone, disgust. He had betrayed the village and the Hokage by leaving.

"Why do you want to heal my eyes?" He asked lowly, threateningly. Sakura bit in a sharp reply, and instead went into herself and asked herself the same question. Why did she want to heal his eyes? Sasuke had never asked her to heal his eyes, which were something she had come up with herself. Maybe the idea of seeing an Uchiha without eyes was a disturbing thought? Or did she want to prove something?

"Do you want someone to see you?" He asked, Sakura froze the second the words left his lips. Had he actually said that?

"Excuse me?" She asked offended. Itachi shrugged.

"You know what I'm talking about, you and Hatake Kakashi. You are Haruno Sakura aren't you?" He asked in an every day tone. Sakuras breath hitched in her throat, how could he know about her and Kakashis date? He hadn't even been in the village then.

"Nurses here gossip about this and that it seems, my hearing has become sharper after I started going blind." He explained, answering Sakuras unasked question.

Sakura sat in silence for a long time, could she rely on this man that she hated, that he would not go to anyone else with what she told him, if she decided to tell him anything? He had asked, and it was only polite to answer.

"It would be nice." She whispered. Glancing at the door, two ANBU stood outside.

Itachi was silent for some time, had he forgotten the question he asked already? Suddenly a slight smile spread on his lips and his whole face seemed to light up for one short second.

"I mean, I don't even know what I was thinking, dating your own teacher, what fool would do that anyway?" She whispered angry at herself.

"Maybe, I'm not cut out to love anyone?" Why was she blurting out all of this, and to a man like Itachi of all people in the world, but he listened, that was more than any of her friends would have done.

"Actually, I thought I'd be married to your brother now, but that didn't work out did it?" She said and laughed humourlessly. Itachi smiled shortly again. It was so uncharacteristic of him, to smile.

"I think Sasuke is the one, not cut out for love." Itachi murmured. That caught Sakuras attention.

"What do you mean?" She asked, "He could have any girl in this village if he wanted."

Itachi didn't answer, and Sakura knew deep inside what he meant, she knew too well.

Sasuke was a man that was almost impossible to love and not hate at the same time, he was an anti climax and there was nothing that could change that fact. There was nothing Sakura or any other human could do to change that, well, there had been one person who could've been up to the test. That one person, that cheery person who loved everyone and cared for everything, with his wild nature and passion for Ichirakus ramen, he could've made Sasuke forget his shadows and instead concentrate on his light. Except that person, was dead.

* * *

Sasuke stared gravely at his former team mate, her pink locks were tied back into a high ponytail and she wore the medics' uniform, she was on duty. What she had just told him did indeed worry him, could there really be a possibility that Itachi had come back _because_ he was going blind? He didn't want to think that, not now that he finally had come to a truce with his brother, all that was missing now was a conversation between the two brothers where both were off duty.

"So he's completely blind, and you can fix his sight?" Sasuke asked, making sure he had heard correctly, he knew he had, as he had made her say it three times already. Sakura didn't answer this time, she was staring out the window absently, sadly, he noticed.

"Is there something else on your mind, Sakura?" Sasuke asked and rose from his seat, stepping around his desk and leaning against the front of the large table. She looked at him.

"No, Hokage-sama." She whispered. Sasuke sighed and didn't bother reminding her again that they still were friends and that she didn't have to be so formal around him when they were alone. He knew though, that she would not stop calling him Hokage, he was her superior, and that was very important for her to remember as they once had been equals, team mates.

"Heal his eyes and we'll see what happens, but I'll triple the guards outside his door just in case he does have bad intentions after all." Sasuke said and leant back on his desk. Sakura bowed deep, so that her ponytail fell forwards and brushed her cheek; irritably she straightened up and brushed it back again.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Any precautions you want me to take, disable his sharingan? His mangekyo sharingan?" She paused, he knew what she would say next, it was a secret between the two of them that she had discovered when he had come to her with his sharingan.

"The third stage?" She whispered soundlessly, but he knew. If Itachi was dishonest and he had maintained the third stage, they all were in deep trouble.

"Close off his mangekyo, and make him unable of ever maintaining the third stage, if he already has discovered it, shut it down. It's too high of a risk to take." He said. Sakura nodded and left the office.

When he heard her footsteps disappear, he walked over to the hidden door in the office. It was behind a bookshelf, typical? Yes, very unoriginal, but it was in fact very handy at times.

He pushed a hidden button under one of the shelves; it was disguised as a nail and not a book like in almost every movie. The bookshelf swung around and he walked into a hidden chamber, where forbidden jutsus, Konoha secrets, reports from special assigned missions and such things, that only the Hokage should have access to. He picked up one medical report and stared at it, Uchiha, it read on the file. This was the file Sakura had made on the sharingan. She had described extremely detailed about how to obtain it, how to use it, and how to heal and destroy it. It almost scared Sasuke how accurate the report was, and how she would be able to beat him in an instant if the two of them ever fought each other. Next in the report came the Mangekyo sharingan, this one was less detailed as she had only been able to get so much out of Kakashi about the Mangekyo. When Sasuke had obtained it, after Naruto died, she had been able to fill in some holes in the report, but it was not yet finished. After Mangekyo came a series of attacks and counter strategies on how to use the mangekyo and the regular sharingan in combat. The last sheet in the file was newer and with very small letters, Sakura explained about a final stage of the sharingan. This was something, as far as Sasuke knew had been unknown to the Uchihas.

It read that the third stage, as Sakura had taken the liberty to name Zenchihou sharingan, zenchihou meaning the whole area, because when one activated the third stage, your entire eye turned red.

Sasuke had yet to obtain the zebchihou, but Sakura had done what she could to help him with it. He sighed and placed the file back on it's place. It was not what he was there for. He started searching trough the files, and soon found the reports from the war one year ago.

He took the bunch of files and brought them into his office, closing the shelf behind him. Something had been bothering him, ever since Kakashi had come to him, soaked to the skin. Sasuke had been laying in a hospital bed at that time, and Kakashi had been out looking for the blonde one, he had told Sasuke that they had concluded that he had died in the battle with Orochimaru.

He had a feeling that they had overlooked something; something that couldn't really be seen, but still was there and oh so visible if you just knew what to look for.

"What is it that you're trying to say, Naruto? Kyuubi?" He asked into the air, looking at the files, feeling surer and surer that there was a hint somewhere, about what, he wasn't sure, but something about Narutos death was way too suspicious.

* * *

His muscles ached as he sat up, memories was seeping into him by each second that flew by. He remembered…**everything, **and everything was too much to handle. Why he was alive, he couldn't understand it, it was a miracle. Still he could not see anything, it was all blackness, emptiness, but he doubted that feeling came from his lack of vision. Something else was bothering his tired soul, a pair of lifeless black eyes that stared straight at him. Nothing had happened the way he wanted, people had gotten themselves killed, he himself had almost gotten himself killed. Or…was he indeed dead?

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come out, he was calm, his heart beat steadily. Lack of sight and voice, he could live with that; at least, he was alive.

Some weren't even that lucky.

**"Can you hear me?" **That same voice, so familiar. He had a feeling that he should know who that voice belonged to, but for some reason, he didn't.

He tried to answer: "yes" but no sound came, and he nodded instead, not knowing if the voice could se him.

**"Can you see me?" **The voice asked. He shook his head.

**"Can you feel me?" **The voice continued to press him for answers, he waited, felt, but felt nothing, only pain from his memories, so he shook his head again.

Suddenly something soft touched his hand, it felt like fur, smooth long fur. He petted it, felt the hairs smoothen under his rough hand.

**"Now you can." **The voice said. His hand came to a halt, resting on the fur, before a flow of memories rushed into him, and he dug his fingers into the long fur. Painfull, blissful, happy, sad, cryptic and clear memories, and suddenly he felt silly for not remembering who this voice belonged to. Still, he had to ask, to be sure.

**"Kyuubi?" **

* * *

Woohoo! So, I hope you understood that the main pairing will be changed to ItaSaku? And i hope there's no sad faces over this decision?

Well, there'll be KakaSakuIta though, but shuuuush! Wait and see, I hope i'll manage to make this interesting for you


	4. The journey

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 4: The Journey**

_It started out as a feeling, _

_Which then grew into a hope _

_Which then turned into a quiet thought _

_Which then rew into a quiet word_

_And then than word grew louder and louder_

_Until it was a battle cry. _

_Regina Spector – the call_

* * *

Sakura walked trough the hallways in the hospital, going trough the manuscript in her head, over and over again, she couldn't say anything wrong, she could not mess this one up. She had to be perfectly anonymous, perfectly closed up, perfectly emotionless. She could not let her tongue slip. One mistake and he could be able to see straight trough her.

Approaching the door casually, her hands hanging loosely down at her sides, trying to look relaxed, while inside her chest her heart was racing, she stared at the wooden surface in the door. She had to calm down; he could hear her heart and know that she hid something. She took a deep breath, steadily her hand reached for the door knob. The ANBU that stood guard didn't even throw a casual glance at her. They stared straight ahead, letting her flow past them, like air.

She pushed the door open and walked inside the well lit room, he sat in his bed as he always did when she came to check on him. His head was tilted, telling her that he was listening.

"Haruno Sakura?" He asked smoothly. Sakura stopped; he had a habit of knowing when she came, even though he was completely blind.

"You seem…different." He said and turned his face towards her, his glazed eyes stared straight trough her, but they were still looking into her eyes. She didn't understand it, how could he be able to do that?

"I can heal you." She said lowly, almost below a whisper, but she knew he would hear her. His hearing was magnificent, he had, unconsciously, lead chakra to his ears so that he could hear better than any human. She saw his turn his face away and bowing his head, she could never read his face, and that way, she never knew what he felt about any situation.

"but…" He murmured the word, let it roll of his lips like it was venom. He knew there was a back side to the gift she was offering; he probably knew the moment she walked inside the room, if not before she even opened the door.

"Will you disable my sharingan?" He asked.

"You'll be able to use your sharingan normally." She said.

"The mangekyo?"

"I'm sorry, but when your probation time is over, maybe you can ask the Hokage to let you have it back?" She said, knowing that Sasuke probably would give him his mangekyo back if he wanted to have any great use of the elder Uchiha.

"I see." He said and laid back down on the bed, placing his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. Sakura could only stare at his careless composure, reminding her of Kakashi, still he had an aura of caring about him. He was a strange man, she came to think and realised that he wasn't actually the monster she had imagined him to be. She still hated him for what he had done to Sasuke, but she didn't see him as an awful monster. Now she just saw him as an evil, very evil man.

"Is this an offer you would be interested in? Uchiha-san?" She asked and twined her hair between her fore finger and thumb. He didn't answer at first, but finally he sighed and opened his eyes again. He grabbed the forehead protector that he had placed on the table beside his bed and tied it in front of his eyes.

"I am weak without my sight, Haruno-san." He murmured and rose from the bed, walking around the room avoiding every obstacle.

"Is that a yes then?" Sakura asked and turned to leave.

"Yes." He murmured and sat back down on the bed. Sakura looked over her shoulder at him, he was a very pathetic man, she thought, power was all he thought about it seemed. She sighed.

"I'll be back this afternoon, we'll divide the healing process into eleven sessions, two sessions per day, and in a five days time you'll be able to see clearly and use your sharingan again." Sakura said and left the room. Again her heart raced at an unbelievable speed, how did he manage to make her so uncomfortable, by just being in the same room as her?

* * *

Hinata walked trough the streets of Konoha, everything was peaceful and people minded their own business. She held the young boy in her arms, it was his birthday soon, only four days now, his birthday, his fathers death. His large pure blue eyes stared up at her, and black hair had already started framing his beautiful face. He was the most beautiful thing in the whole world to her. He was her treasure.

She had named him Minato after his grandfather; Naruto would've wanted that, Hinata believed he would've wanted that.

She walked slowly trough the village, showing Minato all the wonderful and beautiful things that the village consisted of, the village Naruto had held so dearly to his heart.

People showed her kindness whenever she walked into their shops; they bowed to her and her son, but it wasn't really to them they showed respect, it was to her dead husband. He was the man they had all gone from hating to loving, proving how thin the line between love and hate truly was. When he had died, they had all come in his funeral, the funeral without a body to bury. Naruto had been on the covers of every newspaper in the fire country. Everyone knew of the loud mouthed, powerful ninja he had been. In Suna they had held a festival in memory of Naruto, the one who saved their Kazekage.

Hinata ended her stroll by the memorial stone; she had been there more and more these last few days, knowing that his one year anniversary was drawing closer by each minute. It was of course not only Narutos anniversary, it was a day all of Konoha would grieve their dead, which suffered in the gruesome war one year ago.

Hinata stroked his name on the stone; it was neatly chiselled into the hard surface.

She looked up at the sun and swore under her breath, she was late for guard duty by Itachis room. As an ANBU she had been assigned to guard the deadly Uchiha. She ran with Minato sleeping soundly in her arms.

When she was about to open the door into her house, a memory shoot into her mind, a memory that was not her own.

_"We've come to roads end it seems, Furball." A voice said, it belonged to__ a bloody blonde man, he had sky blue eyes that looked up at something large. A huge demon came into view, it was a fox, with nine tails swirling around him. He laid down beside the blonde man who had fallen to his knees now. _

_**"I won't let you die so easily Kit, I'll keep you alive until my own chakra dies away."**__ The demon said and picked the blonde man up with his teeth, gently. The demon walked away, towards sharp mountains where smoke came up from the top of one of the mountains. _

Hinata gasped and had to support herself towards the door when she came to agan, and tried to regain her steady breathing. She had seen Narutos last memory, his last memory, and he hadn't been dead. Could he still be alive? No, of course not, if he had been alive he would've come back to Konoha.

Wouldn't he?

* * *

"Where am I?" He asked Kyuubi, his voice rasped at the inside of his throat like sand paper and he grimaced. A snort came from the demon he knew was there with him, like a guardian angel.

**"You're where I was born."** Kyuubi answered, it was the truth it seemed. He put his hands on the ground underneath him, and found that it was stone, but it wasn't cold, actually, it was almost too warm. His hands left the ground, and he lifted them up to his face, he had no scars there. He felt his hair, it had grown longer it seemed, he dragged long thin fingers trough his thick hair and let it fall over to one side, so that it covered one of his eyes. His hands travelled next down his own body, and felt his own ribs, other than that he seemed not to have lost too much weight.

**"I brought you new clothes and a cloak. I guess you want to get going as soon as possible?" **Kyuubi asked. He closed his eyes as they were useless anyway and rose unsteadily from the floor, he took one step before he collapsed to the ground again. He had no strength in his feet.

**"Your muscles will have to be trained up again, it's only normal, after one year in ****mnbn**

"**Put these on, I'll carry you back to Konoha, but not if you're naked."** Kyuubi said, Naruto accepted the fabrics. He felt it and tried to figure out what it was. Finally he realised that it was a yukata, and he silently thanked the Kyuubi for not bringing him something too complicated to wear. A pair of clean boxers had also been brought. The cloak was made of a soft fabric that felt nice against his fingers. He threw it around his shoulders, still sitting on the ground.

"Thank you, Kyuubi, I would've been dead if it hadn't been for you." Naruto murmured silently.

**"If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have taken such a risk Kit." **Kyuubi said and Naruto tried to smile, but his lips were sore and instead he nodded. Naruto unsteadily rose from the ground again, managing to stand, barely.

One of Kyuubis tails pushed on his back while two other tails held him upright, and Naruto walked forwards.

**"I have reduced my size to a tenth of my original size, ****I guess it'll be easier for you to stay on my back this way."** Kyuubi said, and Naruto reached out in front of himself, feeling the top of Kyuubis back, and he realised that even though Kyuubi was a lot smaller now, he still hovered about two and a half metres above the ground at the top of his back.

The two tails that held Naruto and kept him from collapsing, easily lifted him off the ground and placed him on top of Kyuubis back. He leant forward and grabbed the longer hair around Kyuubis neck, knowing that when Kyuubi ran, he ran fast.

Narutos mind was blank, normally he would've asked thousands of questions about what happened to the others, how Kyuubi had managed to keep him alive all this time, why he was blind, if had gotten a son or a daughter, and how Hinata was doing. But he didn't feel anything at all, except an aching feeling, a longing to see his wife again, to feel her skin, smell her hair, kiss her, at the moment that was all he wanted to do. Everything else came second; all that mattered was to see his wives' happy smile when she saw him again.

* * *

Sakura concentrated all her energy on making Itachis eyes heal. After one day and two tiresome sessions she went to sleep right away in her apartment. But even in her dreams, she did not get to rest her tired mind. She dreamt of red blazing eyes, which faded into grey. She dreamt of Kakashi, and him turning his back on her. She tried to reach out after him, but when he turned back and smiled at her, he was no longer Kakashi. His face had changed and he now had long black hair, and red glowing eyes. He had turned into the man she hated. Uchiha Itachi.

"Sakura?" His low smooth voice dragged her out of her thoughts. She had dozed off in the middle of a session again. His now black eyes peered at her. She had been having so much trouble sleeping, and she had a tendency to try and analyze her dreams while trying to heal Itachis eyes.

"What's on your mind?" He asked suddenly. She stared into his face, not really understanding why he asked her that. It was almost as if he wanted to know her. She shrugged that feeling off her shoulders and 'hmm'-ed.

"I was wondering what I'm going to make for dinner." She said and concentrated on his eyes again. He could soon see clearly, but only use his regular vision. It would be much more difficult to heal his sharingan. It was such a complex situation, and he had worn it completely down, so she would have to rebuild it from scratch.

Itachi kept silent all trough the rest of the session, and when Sakura withdrew her chakra from his eyes and let herself relax somewhat, he stared at her with completely healed vision. The colour of his eyes was an amazing dark ebony colour, he seemed so…trustable.

"I never imagined that this is what you look like." He murmured, and tilted his head to one side. Sakuras eyes snapped up to meet his.

"Disappointed?" She asked sarcastically and started gathering her medical supplies. She heard him chuckle lightly and froze.

"No, I'm rather surprised. I never imagined you to look so…young." He said. Sakura glared at him.

"I am only twenty years old after all." She said sharply and turned away from him.

He ignored her comment and moved his gaze from her face to the window.

"It has been quite some time since I could see contours this clearly." He murmured silently and held his hand up in front of him.

"It's quite magnificent." Sakura took her bag and walked towards the door.

"Same place, at nine o'clock tomorrow." She said shortly before she was out the door.

She didn't go home, it was so lonely there. So instead she went for a short walk in the park to clear her mind. Halfway to the park though, she met a lovely sight.

It was Ino holding hands with Kotetsu, they seemed happily in love. Sakura just hoped it would last longer than Inos previous relationships, but she also knew that Kotetsu was not like her former boyfriends.

Walking on, she passed Ichiraku Ramen and felt that all too familiar lump in her throat. She stopped and watched Ichiraku and his daughter, Ayame, laugh together. On pure impulse, Sakura sat down and ordered a portion of naruto flavoured ramen.

Someone sat down beside her and ordered the same. It was Kakashi.

She didn't acknowledge his presence, but at the same time she could not deny herself noticing his strong personality. It always hung like a coat around him, a strong mysterious coat. Still, she noticed that it did not have that same effect on her as it used to have. Now he was just a man, a strong man, but still just a man. Itachi as well, was just a man…or was he? He was…and had always been just a man, like Sasuke and Kakashi were just men. Then she thought of Naruto, he had never been just a boy, or just a man. He was never only "just…", he had always been something more.

Strange thing though, that the only one that was something more than just a man, had sacrificed himself for just a village. Many men had died during the war, but they had all been just men, and no one could blame them for being only that. Naruto had, though knowing that he would never return, launched himself at Orochimaru with every cell in his body. All the fury he could muster, and even more. Naruto had, well knowing that by doing what he did, would destroy his body, charged, only to save just men.

"I'm glad you're here." She suddenly said to Kakashi. He glanced sideways at her, waiting more maybe, but that was all she wanted to say.

"I'm glad you feel that way." He said. Sakura smiled vaguely.

"I'm healing Uchiha Itachis eyes." She said and stared down at her ramen.

"I've heard." He murmured, obviously not too pleased about the news.

"He's actually not all that bad, and that angers me. It makes it so hard to hate him." Sakura said and huffed. Kakashi turned towards her and tilted his head to one side.

"Sasuke told me about Itachis' reasons for doing what he did all those years ago. And truth be told, I kind of already knew. The superiors at that time feared the Uchihas growing strength and power. If you should hate someone Sakura, hate the sender of the message, instead of the messenger." Kakashi said. Sakura stared at him, not quite comprehending what he was saying.

"Uchiha Itachi loved Konoha, and Konoha used that against him…and his clan. He did not slay his clan for his own sake; he did it, because he was ordered to." Sakura gasped.

"So what you're saying is…that he never even was a traitor at all, he was the quite opposite. But why would you assume he joined the Akatsuki then?" She asked, pondering if he was not the evil man she had made him out to be in her head.

"You should ask him that, I don't have all the answers you know." Kakashi said and smiled. Sakura nodded.

"You're probably right, and who knows, he might even give me an answer, right?" She said with a hint of sarcasm.

Kakashi smiled.

* * *

Everything was darkness, he knew he was holding his hand up in front of him, and he was sure that his eyes were open, but he could not see his fingers making a fist.

A week had already passed since that day he woke up. Kyuubi had helped him to start train his muscles again. It went quickly, much faster than it would have done for a normal human, but he was no normal human.

"Why can't I see?" He asked his comrade. Kyuubi chuckled beside him.

**"You can see Kit, it's just so dark that human eyes can't make out even the largest of mountains. We are a place where the sun never could've survived."** Kyuubi said. Naruto didn't ask any further, as it was time to get going again. They only had few breaks, and whenever they had these short breaks, Naruto would train his muscles. Soon he could walk, shortly after he could run and jump. Then he began working on his chakra control again, it was hard, but at the same time easy. He was not his strongest self, but he was probably stronger than most chuunin already, and that only after three weeks. He was making quick progress, but their journey seemed endless.

The two of them never spoke much, Naruto thought mostly about his beautiful wife, of his child. He was nervous about what she would say when he finally stood before her, would she be angry that he had taken so long?

**"Now you should be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel."** Kyuubi said finally one day. And quite right, a small white point in could be seen right in front of Naruto. Still the two of them had to travel another two weeks to walk into the light.

Finally he could see, and finally he could breathe the fresh air he had longed for.

Kyuubi sat down beside him and stared out over the large ocean that stretched from horizon to horizon. He sighed.

**"The rest of this journey you will have to make on your own. Across this ocean lies the country of water. You will know the way to Konoha from there. Just walk straight ahead."** And by that the great demon king disappeared into nothing, and Naruto could feel his strengthening chakra inside him.

He stared ahead and without further hesitation, he ran on chakra filled feet over the water.

* * *

Hinata had just put her little one to sleep. She looked down at him with loving eyes.

"You are so much alike your father dearest Minato, and your grandfather. I know you'll live up to your name." She whispered and stroked the boys blonde hair.

She closed off the light and walked out. The large house seemed empty when Neji weren't around much anymore. He supposedly had an important mission to attend to. Hinata sighed and decided for a walk to get her mind off…everything.

She walked trough the crowded streets of Konoha. Konoha ha indeed a joyful nightlife. Several kinds of bars were open, and she met many of her late comrades.

Tenten came up to her together with a tall handsome man whom Hinata had never seen before.

"Hello Hinata-sama, long time no see. Meet my fiancé, you remember Sai right?" Hinatas eyes widened. Sai? The Sasuke replacement so many years ago on team 7? He was totally changed, his eyes were warm and welcoming and he had grown his hair longer. He was absolutely stunning.

"Of course I remember Sai. I'm sorry I didn't recognise you. So you are engaged? Congratulations." Hinata said and bowed gracefully. Tenten grinned and bowed back.

"It is okay Hyuuga-sama, I have changed. But I must say, so have you. You have become a very beautiful woman." Sai said and bowed to her as well. Hinata smiled.

"Thank you for your kind words, but I have to be off now, we'll have to meet up and talk sometime Tenten-san." Hinata offered.

"That would be great Hinata-sama, I hope it will be soon." Tenten answered. They bid their farewells and went each their way.

Hinata despised the formality everyone treated her with after she had married Naruto, but she had learnt to overlook it as no matter how many times she tried to tell everyone not to be so formal, they would just be formal anyway.

She continued her walk down the street, she took a smaller street a little further away from the centre of the village and headed towards the guard post to see if Shikamaru was guard today as well. She wanted someone to talk to, and he would probably know what to say about all her dreams and visions she had been having lately.

Though just as she passed by the clearing where the memorial stone was, she could see a shadow leaning towards the stone, supporting its forehead on the cold surface and its hands tracing the names written on it.

Hinata stopped and peered at the stranger trough the trees. She couldn't make out any features, but she believed it to be a man. Suddenly he turned around and stared right at her. Shocked she took a step back and gasped.

"You…"

I have been gone for some time, and I apologise for that. I have not been in the right naruto mood, but it's summer vacation, the sun is not shining and i'm

mostly sitting inside, so i've got plenty of time to write for you guys.


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